Air Dates: February 15, 1991 - February 14, 1992
Head Director: Keita Amemiya
Head Writer: Toshiki Inoue
Music: Kazuhiko Toyama
Producers: Atsushi Kaji, Takeyuki Suzuki, Kyozo Utsunomiya
Created by: Saburo Hatte
Starring:
Kotaro Tanaka - Ryu Tendoh/Red Hawk
Rika Kishida - Kaori Rokumeikan/White Swan
Ikko Tadano (credited as Tomohisa Naruse) - Raita Oishi/Yellow Owl
Sayuri Uchida - Ako Hayasaka/Blue Swallow
Toshihide Wakamatsu - Gai Yuki/Black Condor
Mikiko Maki - Commander Aya Odagiri
Daisuke Tachi - Count Radiguet
Maho Maruyama - Maria/Rie Aoi
Miku Kuga - Tran
Yutaka Hirose - Emperor Tranza
Yuzo Hayakawa - Jiiya
Voice Only Roles:
Hideaki Kusaka - Grey
Tsutomu Taeki - Narrator
*calms down, relaxes, breathes in then out*
Well...I just finished episode 51 of Chojin Sentai Jetman. Be prepared for a lot of gushing for the next 3 parts, guys. Oh, and SPOILER ALERT.
After Turboranger and Fiveman both underperformed for Toei and Bandai, longtime Sentai producers Suzuki and Utsunomiya knew it was time to mix up the team behind their longest actively running franchise. The director-writer duo behind every Sentai from Maskman to Fiveman were ousted from the next installment and two new faces were ushered in. Enter two upcoming talents: writer Toshiki Inoue and director Keita Amemiya. It was also decided the series would be a look back to the past by paying tribute to the legendary anime that inspired Ishinomori to create Goranger: Tatsunoko's Kagaku Ninja tai Gatchaman. With a return to the military motif as well as dedicating itself to the wonders of flying (it was a bird-based series, after all), Jetman was already poised to be a promising series.
However, series producer Takeyuki Suzuki was intrigued by the recent popularity of melodramatic Japanese television shows that focused on love triangles and/or unrequited romance. Suzuki insisted that Inoue incorporate a love story into the series as an attempt to draw in older viewers, a move that would eventually pay off. Both toy sales and ratings were up from the previous years by a significant margin, and Sentai was guaranteed to keep running for the next few years. So did this move make for a fun series to watch? Or was it too out of place for a children's series?
Before we answer that, let's get into the basic plot of the series. Ryu Tendoh and Rie Aoi are two members of the elite team known as "Sky Force", and are chosen along with three other people to receive "Birdonic Waves" which would allow them to transform into warriors called Jetmen. Ryu is the first to be exposed, and Rie is next when suddenly, their base is attacked by an inter-dimensional menace known as Vyram. Vyram declares war on Earth and destroys the Sky Force's base. The Birdonic Waves as a result, striking four random people living in Japan. Rie, who also happens to be Ryu's lover, is caught up in the mayhem and is sucked into outer space. Ryu and his commander, Aya Odagiri, are the only two survivors.
When they arrive on Earth, Ryu immediately starts searching for the four recipients of the Birdonic Waves, knowing they will be necessary to fight this new threat. However, gathering them is not easy: Kaori Rokumeikan only takes part because she's bored with her rich lifestyle, Raita Oishi does it simply out because his crops are destroyed, Ako Hayasaka wants to be paid for her services, and Gai Yuki doesn't get along with anyone at all. As the team begrudgingly comes together to fight these forces of evil, their bonds begin to strengthen and, much to Ryu's disapproval, love starts to blossom among their ranks. Meanwhile, Vyram has rivalries within their own organization as they try to decide who will be their next emperor.
The setup has all the makings of your typical Sentai written by Hirohisa Soda, which is natural considering Inoue worked under Soda for several years writing episodes of Liveman, Fiveman, etc. However, one notable addition that Inoue added to this formula was making the team unit actually struggle to become a team. It takes several episodes before Gai decides that fighting for the Jetmen is for the best, and even then he still feuds with Ryu as Gai strives for Kaori's affection. When the team becomes truly a team (a fact Gai admits well over halfway into the series), it feels earned as opposed to Sentai which seem to function as a perfect unit right from the very get-go. As a result, Jetman feels more like a genuine team and makes their chemistry all the more real.
Which brings me to one of the most important aspects of every Sentai: the acting. Thankfully, I can say the acting in this series is among the strongest I have ever seen in a Super Sentai. Because the script thankfully placed an emphasis on these characters growing up as people and as team, the actors are allowed to really flex their acting muscles. Kotaro Tanaka plays the stern leader Ryu pretty well; however, later on there are developments involving one of the commanders of Vyram that tears him apart and it shows thanks to his strong emoting. Toshihide Wakamatsu plays the deliciously cocky Gai, and he brims with so much confidence and attitude that he makes his character's brash behavior tolerable and very entertaining. Rika Kishida does a good job with playing the high-class socialite that Kaori is, and shows genuine affection for both Ryu and Gai even if she is a bit of a Mary Sue(the chemistry was so real that after the series ended, Kotaro Tanaka and Rika Kishida retired from acting and got married!). Ikko Tadano plays the humble country boy Raita, and he is virtually the living definition of the everyday farmer thanks to his physique and naive performance. Finally, Sayuri Uchida plays the schoolgirl Ako and she unfortunately gets the short end of the stick in terms of character development; she is stuck with episodes that, while funny and entertaining, serve as not much more than filler (except for when she falls for a warrior from another dimension, but more on that later).
On the villains' side, once again we are treated to a group of competent and unique villains that are given full character arcs. The leaders of Vyram, who are all competing among themselves to become their next leader while also trying to take over all dimensions, are so villainous yet three-dimensional that it makes it fun to hate them. The calculating and manipulative Count Radiguet, the first villain we lay eyes on and the most menacing, is played by Daisuke Tachi and he has such an air of command and dominance that he ends up being very intimidating. Second, we have Maho Maruyama as Maria, a woman trapped in her own love triangle of sorts. As is made clear early on, Maria is actually Rie but brainwashed to bow down to Radiguet's will (a plan that backfires as Maria ends up independent and plots against Radiguet) and so she is loved by both Ryu and the robot commander Grey. Maruyama does a decent job playing the dual roles, although she tends to get melodramatic when she plays Rie.
Tran is played by the child actor Miku Kaga, and he is pretty much what you would expect a child villain to act like. He's cocky, but a tad bit bratty as seen in later episodes when he's picked on by the other commanders. Kaga does a good job for a child actor, and although he's not quite as menacing or scheming as Akomaru from Gosei Sentai Dairanger, he's competent in his own right. Finally, there's the obligatory robot commander, played once again by suit and voice actor Hideaki Kusaka, Grey. Here, Grey is given much more screentime than Liveman's Gash, and thus Kusaka is given more of a chance to shine as a voice actor when his character illogically falls in love with Maria. He becomes rivals with Black Condor later on, and their rivalry gets pretty intense but, again, more on that later. There is one more commander who shows up, but I'll touch up on him (someone played by yet another familiar face from Liveman) in the next part.
The action in this series is actually pretty remarkable, and this doesn't just apply to the fights with the Sentai. In fact, the mecha fights in this series are actually downright exciting, full of settings and locations that make it feel as if the staff behind this show really wanted to mix things up. A larger emphasis is put on the mecha in this series as well, with the robots playing a key role to victory for the Jetmen in some unique ways that don't just involve fighting a giant monster. As for the suit action, it's also pretty solid thanks to Kazuo Niibori's usual remarkable stunt work (this would be his last gig as a regular suit actor, he would become action director for Zyuranger the following year) and some colorful and flashy fight scenes that Amemiya and company knew how to provide during this time period.
That's it for part 1 of my review. Tune in next time as I take a peek at several of the story arcs (yeah, this show had several), some of the technical aspects, and some characters I hinted at in this part. In the meantime, while I write the next part, I suggest you go ahead and start considering adding Jetman to your torrent queue if you haven't already. Just a heads-up...
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